When a patient's vocal cord has been paralyzed or is otherwise impaired, treatment can include medially displacing the nonfunctioning vocal cord to reduce the distance between it and the other, functioning vocal cord to improve voice and prevent aspiration. As is discussed in Isshiki, Nobuhiko, Phonosurgery, (Springer-Verlag, N.Y., 1989), pp. 77-104, the most common surgical technique to achieve this medial displacement is the cordal injection of Teflon. Another technique described in this reference is cutting a window in the thyroid lamina and medially displacing the cut window material (referred to therein as the "window") by implanting a shim or a plug in the resulting window (referred to herein to mean the opening cut through the thyroid lamina), the plug or shim having a projecting portion that extends inward beyond the window to displace the cut window material, and thus the paralyzed vocal cord on the other side, toward the functioning vocal cord. One of the plugs described in Isshiki has a an angled projecting portion of varying height and a flange that is larger than the cut window and rests on the outside surface of the lamina. Another plug described in Isshiki has a projecting portion that has a posterior wedge extension that extends posteriorly beyond the window.